Arithmetic Lesson 人尽其才

A little boy bustled into a grocery one day with a memorandum in his hand.
O*i:_2t*T/HB0　　

　　"Hello, Mr. Smith," He said. "I want thirteen pounds of coffee at 32 cents."

　　"Very good," said the grocer, and he noted down the sale.

　　"Anything else, Charlie?"
_8f(m;jMy?0EM{%u0　　

　　"Yes. Twenty-seven pounds of sugar at 9 cents."

　　"The loaf, eh? And what else?
7VyEl%NH iC-?0　　

　　"Seven and a half pounds of bacon at 20 cents."

　　"That will be a good brand. Go on."
G2g%L2P,Y'eJgy6C:BMY0　　

　　"Five pounds of tea at 90 cents; eleven and a half quarts of molasses at 8 cents a pint; two eight-pound hams at 21 cents, and five dozen jars of pickled walnuts at 24 cents a jar."

　　The grocer made out the bill. 中国英语博客基地(English Blogs-英语麦当劳博客空间)
|d'E?I{
　　

　　"It"s a big order," he said. "Did your mother tell you to pay for it?" 中国英语博客基地(English Blogs-英语麦当劳博客空间)z1k,x i;|FeY2|/v
　　

　　"My mother," said the boy, as he pocketed the neat and accurate bill, "has nothing to do with this business. It is my arithmetic lesson and I had to get it done somehow." 

　　一天，一个小男孩匆匆忙忙地走进了一家杂货店，手里拿着一张清单。

　　“史密斯先生，你好，”他说道，“三毛二分钱一磅的咖啡，请给我十三磅。”

　　“好的，”杂货店老板马上把这笔生意记了下来。

　　“还要别的什么不，查理？”

　　“要的。再要二十七磅糖，九分钱一磅的。”

　　“面包要不要？还要什么？”

　　“七磅半咸肉，二毛钱一磅的。”

　　“这肉是名牌子呢。还有呢？”

　　“九毛钱一磅的茶叶，给我五磅；八分钱一品脱的糖浆要十一夸脱半；二毛一分钱一磅的大火腿要二只，二毛四分钱一罐的腌核桃要五打。”

　　杂货店老板把帐单算了出来。

　　“你买了很多东西，”他说，“你妈妈叫你现在把钱付清吗？”

　　小男孩一面把那清楚准确的帐单放进口袋一面说，“这和我妈没关系，这是我自己的算术作业，我总得想办法把它做出来！